The First Annapurna Marathon is set to begin Friday morning from the base camp of Mount Annapurna to Dhampus in commemoration of Dr Harka Bahadhur Gurung and Maurice Herzog.
One of the World's Highest Marathon from the Annapurna BC run in Olympic standard covering a distance of 42.195 km. The world's great event starts from the close vicinity of the famed towering Annapurna I (4,395m) and the neighboring peaks of Annapurna South, Vara-shikar or Annapurna Fang, and then to friendly country villages of Chomrong-Landrung and thus ending this memorable run in the Dhampus village High School premises (1,650m). Gurung was the first tourism minister of Nepal and Herzog was the first person to climb Mount Annapurna on June 3, 1950.
Olympian and South Asian Games record holder marathoner Baikuntha manandhar, who is the technical director of the marathon, said that the task for the athletes is quite challenging. “It´s very tough. The athletes will have to toil hard to complete the marathon,” said Manandhar, who will also assume the role of a judge in the marathon.
All the athletes will have to cover the distance of 42.195 kilometers from the base camp at the height of 4550 meters and finish at Dhampus situated at 1,770 meters above the sea level. The athletes will have to pass through Sinuwa Danda, Chomrong, Landruk, Tolka and Pothana to complete the race which has six downhills and five uphills.
Marathon Route:
Event starts from the Annapurna Glacier Base Camp passing through Machhapuchare Base Camp, Deorali-Doban and then towards Chomrong from the top of Chomrong follows towards the Jhinu village near its Hot spring and past New Bridge just near the route to Landrung village.
Event starts from the Annapurna Glacier Base Camp passing through Machhapuchare Base Camp, Deorali-Doban and then towards Chomrong from the top of Chomrong follows towards the Jhinu village near its Hot spring and past New Bridge just near the route to Landrung village.
The run continues passing Landrung, Tolka, Bichchowk, and Deurali to Pothana,
continue the run following the long gradual path and then to the finishing point at Dhampus village near at its High School Premises.
continue the run following the long gradual path and then to the finishing point at Dhampus village near at its High School Premises.
Water-First Aid & Medical Post.
01. Annapurna Camp (Starting Point) Medical Post
02. Deurali Water Post
03. Bamboo Water & First Aid
04. Sinuwa Water & First Aid
05. Chomrong Water & Medical Post with Doctor
06. Jhinu Village Water & First Aid
07. Landrung Water & First Aid
08. Tolka Water & First Aid
09. Deorali Water & First Aid
10. Dhampus (Finishing point) Water & Medical Post with Doctor
Volunteers on post:
01. Machhapuchare BC
02. Deurali
03. Himalaya Hotel.
04. Bamboo
05. Sinuwa
06. Chomrong
07. Jhinu
08. Landrung
10. Bhich Chowk
11. Deorali
12. Dhampus
Marathon Route Mileage Distance in Kms
From Annapurna Base CampTo Machapuchare 3.387 Kms
Deurali 7.385 Kms
Hotel Himalaya 9.533 Kms
Dovan 12.215 Kms
Bamboo 15 Kms
Sunuwa Danda 18.465 Kms
Chomrong Bridge 21.570 Kms
Chomrong View top Lodge 22 Kms
Jhinu (Hot spring) 26 Kms
New Bridge 28 Kms
Landrung (Laliguras Lodge) 31 Kms
Tolka (High School) 35 Kms
Bheda Kharka 38 Kms
Potana 40 Kms
Dhampus Village High School 42.195 Kms
Altogether 50 athletes, including 13 women and two foreigners, have confirmed their participation in the marathon. The list also includes six athletes from Army and Armed Police Force.
The title favorite of the marathon is Sudip Kulung from Solukhumbu who just won the Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon with a timing of 3 hours 45 minutes on May 29.
Among the female participants, Yangdi Lama Sherpa is the favorite to win the title as she is the three-time winner of the Everest Marathon with her personal best record of 5 hours 22 minutes.
“I hope to finish the marathon within six hours because it is technically difficult and dangerous,” she said.
Meanwhile, Lee Won Jin from South Korea said that he was here for trekking but decided to participate in the marathon after he came to know about the event.
“I like participating in marathons,” said Lee, who has 10 marathons to his credit with the best position during the Jong Ang International Marathon in which he finished third.
“But this is the first time that I am participating in a high-altitude marathon,” he added.
The race is expected to promote the scope of sports tourism and adventure sports. According to race coordinator Khadga Bahadhur Ranabhat, promoting June 3 as a tourism festival is the objective behind organizing the race.
The winner will receive Rs 50,000 in the open male category while the second and third position holders will receive Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively. In the women´s category the first position holder will bag a purse of Rs 25,000 and the second and third position holder will bag Rs 20,000 and Rs 15,000.
The race is being organized by Adventure Sports Tourism Society, Nepal Trekking Association Pokhara Chapter, Pokhara Tourism Council, Nepal Mountaineering Association Annapurna Charter, Western Hotel Association Pokhara, Syanchuri Tourism Association, Lali Guras Youth Club, Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon, Himalayan Expeditions, Western Region Development Committee, District Sports Development Committee, Kaski and We the Annapurnas.
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